How to Use the Facebook Pixel & Why It Rocks

What’s your marketing strategy for converting website browsers into buyers? Do you know how to use the Facebook Pixel? Using the Facebook Pixel to run retargeting ads might be just what your business needs to increase sales!

As a professional marketer, what I’m about to say might be shocking, but… *whispers* running general Facebook ads might not be as good an investment as you may think!

I know, sacrilege! As a professional marketer, I’m supposed to encourage you to run ads continuously to reach the widest possible audience. And yes, if you have the budget for a big marketing campaign with a minimum spend of $300/month (or better yet, $1000+/month), then I’d probably be advocating for more general Facebook ads. But depending on the size—and budget— of your business, regular ads might not give you the best return on your investment. So, what’s the alternative to continually trying to reach new audiences with Facebook advertisements?

The answer is retargeted ads using the Facebook Pixel!

When using the Facebook Pixel, you can retarget people who have already visited your website. That means that you’ll be sending targeted ads to people who have already displayed interest in your offerings. These are much warmer leads than “cold” ads that go out to a general audience, out of the blue. Retargeted ads are more likely to show a positive ROI, as they’re directed towards browsers who have already demonstrated an interest in your services.

So, how does Facebook Pixel work?

What is the Facebook Pixel?

You might be asking, what the heck even is the Facebook Pixel?

The Facebook Pixel is a small piece of code that you can embed into your website. It collects data from your visitors to track their activity and it can help you create ads that will retarget those same people on Facebook. Basically, it will allow you to track the people who have visited your website and show them your ad when they’re browsing around on Facebook. (Or on Instagram for that matter, which also works using the Facebook ads manager.)

By effectively using the Facebook Pixel, you can build targeted audiences, optimize your current marketing campaigns, reinforce your brand, and track your conversions from Facebook ads.

How to Use the Facebook Pixel: Retargeting Ads

If you aren’t currently running any ads on Facebook, that’s okay. You don’t have to run other ads on Facebook to make use of the Pixel.

Retargeting ads target people who have already visited your website or interacted with your brand in some way. Remember, the Facebook Pixel doesn’t create the ads for you. All it’s doing is collecting information about your customers. When you’re ready to start creating ad campaigns on Facebook, the data gathered by the Facebook Pixel will be ready and waiting for you. All that data will help you better target your ads towards a receptive audience!

Marketing Strategy: Give Them What They Want

Imagine that a potential customer visits your website. They hang around for a while, check out your products, look at your “About” page, maybe even put an item in their cart… then, they navigate away, for one reason or another. They didn’t buy anything, but that doesn’t mean it was a zero-sum game. If you’ve got the Facebook Pixel installed, it now has their “scent” and can start tracking them!

When you set up retargeting ads, the next time they visit Facebook or Instagram, your ads will be visible, encouraging them to think about your business again. You can send them a follow up message inviting them come back to your website to complete whatever it was they were doing before they navigated away—making a purchase, downloading a file, booking an appointment, etc. You might even use the retargeting campaign to offer them a specific promotion to help seal the deal!

There’s a perception out there that targeted ads can feel a bit intrusive, but that’s usually only when the ad comes off as… off. But it’s a whole different story when you show people ads for something they’re actually interested in. And there’s no better way to do that than to show them content they’ve already engaged with.

When the targeted ad is for a product or service that a user has already expressed genuine interest in, it’s very different. The targeted ad helps to reinforce their buying decision, rather than just getting skimmed over. This dramatically increases the effectiveness of the ad, often leading the user right back to your website to purchase the product or book the service they’ve already started to consider.

How to Use the Facebook Pixel: Adding the Facebook Pixel to Your Website

Are you wondering how to add the Facebook Pixel to your website? Installing the Pixel on your website might seem daunting—especially if you aren’t a tech wizard—but it’s not difficult at all!

First, log in to the Facebook Ads Manager. Then, open the menu in the top-left corner. Look under “Measure & Report” and click on “Pixels.” You can now create a Pixel! How? Click on the green “Create a Pixel” button at the bottom of the screen.

Now comes the tricky part: adding the Pixel to your website’s code. The method here can vary depending on what kind of website you have. If you use a popular website platform like WordPress or SquareSpace, then adding the Pixel should be easy. Just go to Facebook Event Manager, click on “Partner Integrations” in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen, select your website platform, and connect it to your Facebook account. If you rely on someone else to update your website, you can send them the code and they can take care of it.

How to Use the Facebook Pixel: Customizing Your Ad Campaigns

Once you have the Facebook Pixel installed and tracking, you might wonder how you can make the best use of it for your business. Well, that all depends on what kind of business you run. You need a strategy that will suit your business model, brand, and audience. Remember, every audience is different, so the types of retargeting ads that you aim at your visitors should vary depending on their wants, needs, and how they consume online content.

Here are two popular examples:

Example 1: The Facebook Pixel for Fashion Brands

As a fashion brand, your photography and ad design should be beautiful, eye-catching, and on-brand. Your website should be attractive, functional, and have a great user experience. It should showcase your fashion items and be easy and pleasant for people to browse and search. You also need great SEO to make sure that people who are looking for fashion items just like the ones you offer can find you in the first place!

When it comes to both your website and your ads, people should be able to tell who your company is at a single glance. Your ads should match your overall aesthetic and people should instantly associate your content with what they’ve experienced on your site.

The Facebook retargeting tools are very powerful and can be set to show photos of products a person has already browsed on your website. The campaign can even be configured to show them a photo of an item that they’ve left in their cart! If you have a sophisticated eCommerce store, you can also configure your settings to suggest other similar items that may also catch your visitor’s eye.

Example 2: The Facebook Pixel for Medical Spas

A medical spa website should feel fresh, clean, and professional, giving off an aura of beauty, medical accuracy, comfort, and trust.

Unlike with a fashion brand, where a retargeted ad aims to get someone to buy a product, a medical spa likely wants a person to book an appointment. A service business requires a different kind of Facebook ad. These ads should be alluring but professional. You want to lead users back to your contact page or your online booking service. One way to do this would be to offer a free consultation to get their foot in the door.

If someone has been browsing a particular kind of service, you can retarget them with ads to provide more information about that service. You can also remind them of the benefits of the service they’ve shown interest in, using persuasive language and imagery to entice them book.

The Facebook Pixel is a Marketing Boon

The Facebook Pixel is one of the best methods of recapturing potential customers after they’ve visited your website. Sometimes, all someone needs is a little time to make up their mind about a purchase; retargeting them with the right ad may be just what they need to decide to buy. Other times, people are so busy or distracted that they completely forget about the item they’ve left sitting in their cart. By retargeting them with a great ad, you can help recall their intentions and send them back to your website to complete their purchase. It’s a fantastic and cost-effective use of Facebook Ad services!

If you need help creating a strategy for your ads, taking care of the technical set up, or managing your campaigns, we’ve got you covered! Get in touch with us today for a FREE consultation. We’d be happy to speak with you about how the Facebook Pixel could fit into your marketing strategy. Retargeting ads are easy and cost-effective. Let’s get you set up with Facebook Pixel and convert more browsers into buyers!

Mandi is a social media marketer, copywriter, and project manager for Barker Social™. She's a results-driven planner with an unstoppable ability to churn out quality marketing content. Her creative spirit, project management skills, and copywriting ability make her a marketing dynamo. She is also a bird lover, health foodie, jazz enthusiast, and swing dancer.